Milwaukee Film Festival

SUBMISSIONS
All filmmakers or other film rights holders who submit films for consideration for MFF26 must do so using FilmFreeway. As FilmFreeway users, all Applicants, therefore, agree to be bound by the FilmFreeway Terms of Service for Filmmakers, Screenwriters, and Non-Festivals (https://filmfreeway.com/page/terms-of-service). If any provisions of these Filmmaker Terms and Conditions conflict with the FilmFreeway Terms of Service, then these Filmmaker Terms and Conditions will control.

All films submitted to FilmFreeway must be in the form of an online screener or Vimeo link. If a link is password protected, then the password must be valid through March 13, 2026, otherwise, your submission will be considered INVALID and will be DISQUALIFIED with no entry-fee refund.

Entrant confirms and warrants required legal authority to submit the entry into the Festival and to use all music, images, and content in the entry. In addition, entrant will allow usage of images and/or clips from the film for promotional use on television, radio, in print, and at Festival events.

When submitting to the Milwaukee Film Festival, all eligible submissions will also be entered into consideration for Milwaukee Film's Dialogues Documentary Festival and year-round programming. Please reach out to entry@mkefilm.org with any questions.

LOCAL MILWAUKEE FILMMAKERS - Please fill out this form before submitting to a Cream City Cinema category - https://forms.gle/enrGkDuGe2zpRn5r5

ELIGIBILITY
Milwaukee Film reserves the right to determine eligibility of any work submitted.

Filmmakers are permitted to submit only one film for consideration. In the event that multiple submissions are received, only one will be reviewed.

Only productions completed after January 1, 2024 may be submitted.

There is no premiere status required for the Milwaukee Film Festival.

Works in progress, advertisements, industrial, and instructional works are not eligible.

Accepted films may NOT screen publicly (theatrical, festival, or event-type screenings) in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Walworth, or Washington County after January 1, 2026. Please note that screening your film in one of the above counties at any date prior to our festival may affect programming decisions. Milwaukee Film reserves the right to exclude films that violate this screening embargo from the festival.

To be eligible for the Cream City Cinema category, the director, producer, screenwriter, cinematographer, editor, or lead actor(s) must reside in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Walworth, or Washington County.

To be eligible for the Cream City Cinema awards, all directors must reside in Milwaukee, Waukesha, Racine, Kenosha, Ozaukee, Walworth, or Washington County.

All films must be submitted for selection through an online file upload (up to 10GB) or link your video via Vimeo or YouTube.

Accurate statistics are not always recorded using Vimeo’s methods of tracking loads and views. Vimeo videos viewed via a third-party player do not always record statistics in the same way that videos viewed via their direct link in a web browser are counted. If we view your project using the Vimeo app on another streaming device (such as Apple TV or Roku), it is also being viewed via a third-party player. The vast majority of the films submitted to us are viewed in this manner, and therefore the statistics are not counted in the same way that they would be watched via a direct link.

Foreign language films must be made available with the original language soundtrack and English subtitles.

Award eligibility will be confirmed at the time of film selection.

The online submission form must be completed by January 30, 2026.

Accepted films will be invited to screen no later than March 13, 2026.

Films not accepted into the festival will be notified by email only by March 13, 2026.

Please add entry@mkefilm.org to your list of whitelisted senders to ensure receipt of this email notification. Due to the number of submissions we receive, Milwaukee Film cannot provide feedback on any entries. No calls, please.

FEES
Milwaukee Film is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Fees collected through the Call for Entries process directly compensate our programming staff to review and process film submissions, so please do not request a waiver, unless you meet one of the following requirements:

If you are an Applicant who is also an MFF Alum, meaning that MFF has screened one of your feature or short films in a previous festival, then MFF will waive your submission fee for any film meeting the MFF26 requirements outlined herein.

If you are an Applicant who resides within the state of Wisconsin, then MFF will waive your submission fee for any film meeting the MFF26 requirements outlined herein.

If you are an Applicant who qualifies for our Cream City Cinema program, then MFF will waive your submission fee for any film meeting the MFF26 requirements outlined herein.

If you believe you qualify for any of the above, access the form here. https://forms.gle/enrGkDuGe2zpRn5r5

REFUNDS
MFF will not honor any requests for submission fee refunds. Refunds will not be issued to any Applicant for any submission, regardless of selection for MFF26, for any reason, including changes to MFF26’s dates, venues, or format that MFF may announce at any time.

SHIPPING & MATERIALS
If a film is invited to screen, the following information will be important to have in mind. Submission of work to the festival does not indicate an invitation to screen, the below is provided for informational purposes only.

Exhibition copies of all films and videos screening in the Festival must arrive by Wednesday, March 26, 2026. Detailed technical specs will be provided at the time of booking.

In general:
Bookings must be screened from a DCP. We can accept HD files via transfer for short films and will convert to DCP for exhibition.

We will expect films to provide files that enable the use of closed-captioning, though exceptions may be made on a case-by-case basis at the time of booking. If you have an audio description version of your film available, please let us know at the time of booking.

Milwaukee Film covers inbound shipping costs for in-person feature film exhibition materials. For short films, we anticipate receiving primarily through electronic transfer.

Shipping terms are negotiable at the time of booking only.

Marketing materials must be made available; materials provided to Milwaukee Film for purposes of promotion will not be returned. Entrant confirms that they have permission to use all marketing materials provided to Milwaukee Film for promotional purposes.